The Governing Body at its 341st Session (March 2021) decided to place on the agenda of the 112th (2024) and 113th (2025) Sessions of the International Labour Conference an item related to occupational safety and health protection against biological hazards, recognizing the regulatory gaps identified in that regard, and the need to commence work on technical guidelines on the same topic.
The COVID-19 pandemic further increased the urgency of providing guidance to ILO constituents on this particular type of hazard. The development of technical guidelines on biohazards will assist the Office in preparing for the Conference discussions in 2024 and 2025. For these reasons, at its 343rd Session (November 2021), the Governing Body approved a Meeting of experts to examine and adopt technical guidelines on biological hazards at the workplace, with a duration of five working days on 20–24 June 2022.
The meeting will be composed of eight experts nominated after consultation with Governments, eight Employer experts nominated after consultation with the Employers’ group, and eight Worker experts nominated after consultation with the Workers’ group of the Governing Body, plus advisers and observers as provided for under the Standing Orders for meetings of experts.
